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978-1-316-50369-0 — History for the IB Diploma Paper 3 The Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia (1924–2000)
Allan Todd
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Stalin’s Rise to
Power, 1924–29
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978-1-316-50369-0 — History for the IB Diploma Paper 3 The Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia (1924–2000)
Allan Todd
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The Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia (1924–2000)
Introduction
Any study of the consolidation of the Soviet state from 1924 onwards
involves a study of the policies and methods Stalin used to ensure its
survival, development and expansion during his long leadership. Before
examining these, however, it is necessary to understand how he rose to
power, as many of the issues involved in the power struggle which broke
out after 1924 formed the background to his later policies. This chapter,
after providing some background on events 1917–24, will examine
Stalin’s rise, and the reasons why he was able to become the dominant
leader of the Soviet Union – a position he held from 1928 until his
death in 1953.
TIMELINE
1917 Oct/Nov: Bolshevik Revolution
1921 Mar: Kronstadt Rebellion; NEP adopted, factions and
opposition parties banned
1922 Apr: Stalin becomes General-Secretary of the Communist
Party
Dec: Lenin writes his last Testament; Triumvirate formed
against Trotsky
1923 Jan: Lenin’s Postscript recommends Stalin’s dismissal
1924 Jan: Lenin dies; 13th Party Conference condemns Trotsky’s
views
May: Central Committee keeps Lenin’s Testament secret and
decides not to dismiss Stalin
1925 Apr: Party debate over ‘permanent revolution’ versus
‘socialism in one country’
May: Start of the Leningrad Opposition
Dec: 14th Party Congress; the Leningrad Opposition is
outvoted
1926 Jul: United Opposition formed; Zinoviev dismissed from the
Politburo
1927 Oct: Stalin persuades the Central Committee to expel Trotsky
and Zinoviev from the Central Committee
Nov: Trotsky and Zinoviev expelled from the Communist Party,
and Kamenev from the Central Committee
Dec: 15th Party Congress: Zinoviev and Kamenev end the
United Opposition
1928 Jul: Stalin and Bukharin clash over collectivisation
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Stalin’s Rise to Power, 1924–29
Aug: Bukharin tries to form an alliance with Trotsky
1929 Apr: Bukharin removed as editor of Pravda
Nov: Bukharin removed from Politburo
Note: The Russian calendar in use until 1918 was 13 days behind the
calendar used in the rest of Europe. The revolutions of 1917 took place
in February and October according to the old Russian calendar, but
in March and November according to the Western calendar. This book
therefore refers to the February/March Revolution and the October/
November Revolution.
KEY QUESTIONS
• What was Stalin’s position before 1924?
• How did Stalin win the struggle for power after 1924?
• Why was Stalin able to defeat his rivals?
Overview
• In November 1917, Lenin’s Bolsheviks took power in a revolution
which had the backing of large numbers of industrial workers and
soldiers. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks (renamed the Russian
Communist Party in 1918) formed a new revolutionary government.
• However, they faced violent opposition, and a civil war broke out
which lasted until 1921. During this period, the constant turmoil
led to serious political crises and economic collapse. These problems
sparked growing disagreements among the Russian Communist
Party (RCP) leaders about what policies to adopt after 1921.
• From 1922, Lenin had sufered a series of progressively serious
strokes, which increasingly prevented him from taking an active
part in politics. In December 1922, he wrote a Testament, outlining
the strengths and weaknesses of the main leaders; in January
1923, worried by some of Stalin’s actions, he added a Postscript,
recommending Stalin be dismissed.
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The Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia (1924–2000)
• Trotsky’s main rivals, Zinoviev and Kamenev, made an alliance with
Stalin, in order to prevent Trotsky replacing Lenin. Using his position
as general-secretary, Stalin was able to control meetings and elections
to conferences and congresses. Trotsky was soon isolated.
• With Trotsky defeated, Stalin then turned on Zinoviev and Kamenev,
supported by Bukharin and the Right. Later, in 1928, having
defeated the Left, Stalin turned on Bukharin and by 1929 had also
defeated the Right of the Party.
Figure 2.1: Lenin (circled left) and Trotsky (circled right) with Red Army troops
after the suppression of the Kronstadt Rebellion in 1921.
2.1 What was Stalin’s position
before 1924?
In early 1924, Josef Stalin seemed most unlikely to rise to the top.Yet,
by 1929, he had politically defeated and neutralised all his main rivals –
all of whom had seemed much more likely candidates for the leadership
after Lenin’s death.
24
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Stalin’s Rise to Power, 1924–29
Josef Stalin (1880–1953):
His real name was Josef Djugashvili; he joined the Russian Social
Democratic Labour Party and sided with Lenin in the 1903
split. Unlike most of the other communist leaders, he was not
an intellectual, and mainly undertook practical tasks (including
bank robberies and editing newspapers). In 1922, he took on
the role of General-Secretary of the Communist Party – a routine
administrative job which the other leaders did not want. He rarely
disagreed with Lenin and, after the latter’s death in 1924, began to
use his position to make himself supreme ruler. He executed many
of his rivals in the purges of the 1930s, and remained head of the
USSR until his death in 1953.
Lenin’s ‘Last Struggle’, 1921–24
During the inal stages of the First World War, in February/March
1917, a revolution in Russia had overthrown the Tsar (emperor), and
an unelected provisional government had declared Russia to be a
democratic republic.
However, the Provisional Government failed to carry out land reform,
kept Russia in the war, and delayed holding promised elections.
Consequently, it became increasingly unpopular. In October/November,
a second revolution had taken place, at the insistence of Lenin. This
Bolshevik Revolution made Russia the world’s irst workers’ state.
This new state – renamed the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic
(RSFSR) – was then plunged into three years of civil war.
Though the Bolsheviks inally won power in 1921, the massive
economic and political problems all this turmoil and warfare had created
led to many sharp policy diferences between the leading Bolsheviks.
A one-party state?
The most important disagreement was over economic policy. At the
start of the Civil War, an economic policy known as ‘war communism’
had been adopted as an emergency measure. Grain had been
requisitioned from the peasants to ensure adequate supplies for the
Soviets’ Red Army and the industrial centres; all private trade had been
banned; and all factories, mines and banks were nationalised (taken over
by the government). However, this policy – along with the damage
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sufered as a consequence of the Civil War, and the restrictions on
democracy during the war – had led to the Kronstadt Rising in March
1921, in which workers, sailors and soldiers had staged a serious revolt
in protest.
Though this revolt had been ruthlessly crushed, Lenin persuaded the
10th Party Congress of 1921 to adopt a New Economic Policy (NEP)
to replace War Communism – this introduced a partial step-back
towards small-scale capitalism. This limited revival of capitalism, and the
shock of the Kronstadt Rising, also led Lenin to introduce a ban on
factions within the Communist Party – and a ban on opposition parties
in the Soviets. Several communists opposed this ban, and later Lenin
stated that it was a purely temporary measure, intended to cope with the
acute political and economic crisis.
KEY CONCEPTS ACTIVITY
Signiicance: Find out more about War Communism, the Kronstadt
Rising, and the NEP. Then explain why these policies and events,
and the ban on factions and other parties, were so important for
later political developments in the Soviet Union.
Stalin versus Trotsky
In May 1922, Lenin had the irst of a series of strokes, which
increasingly restricted his ability to take an active part in politics.
Yet there were signiicant political diferences over internal political
democracy and what attitude to take about furthering world revolution.
Leading communists began to consider what would happen if Lenin
died. The most important communists after Lenin were the other
members of the Politburo. The Politburo (short for ‘Political Bureau’)
was the RCP’s body responsible for making political decisions between
Congresses. Though, in theory, the Politburo was responsible to the
Central Committee (CC) which elected it, and to the Party Congress
(which elected the CC), in practice, the Politburo soon came to
dominate the other two bodies. In 1921, it comprised: Trotsky, Zinoviev,
Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov, Stalin and Tomsky. Of these, Leon Trotsky
seemed the most likely to replace Lenin. After him, Zinoviev and
Kamenev were strong political leaders (of the Petrograd and Moscow
Communist Party branches, respectively) and had long been associated
with Lenin – their weak spot was that they had been opposed to the
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Stalin’s Rise to Power, 1924–29
November Revolution at irst. Bukharin, too, was a well-known and
popular revolutionary leader. Stalin was not well known and seemed
unlikely to emerge as a major leader. However, he had been appointed
Commissar (minister) for the nationalities after the revolution and, in
April 1922, had been appointed General-Secretary of the Communist
Party; this position included appointing and dismissing communist
oicials.
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940):
His real name was Leon Bronstein. He had been a member of the
RSDLP, but had opposed Lenin’s ideas on party organisation. In
August 1917, he joined the Bolsheviks, as both he and Lenin had
now developed very similar outlooks. He was defeated by Stalin
and his supporters, and expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929.
In 1938, he set up the Trotskyist Fourth International, as he had
become convinced by then that the Communist International (see
2.2, The campaign against ‘Trotskyism’) and its parties had become
so ‘Stalinist’ and conservative that they were unreformable. He was
assassinated in Mexico in 1940 by one of Stalin’s agents.
QUESTION
What important position did Stalin take on in 1922? How did this
help him become the ruler of the USSR?
Many of the leading communists resented Trotsky’s rapid rise to the top
of the party after August 1917. Zinoviev and Kamenev in particular
believed they should take over from Lenin, and turned to Stalin for
help to stop Trotsky succeeding – these three became known as the
‘triumvirs’ (a reference to Ancient Rome when, for a time, it was ruled
by a government of three oicials). As early as December 1922, they
began moves to prevent Trotsky obtaining majority support. Though
Lenin’s strokes kept him from active involvement in politics, his
awareness of these political and personal tensions caused him growing
concern, and led him to propose to Trotsky that they should form a
Joint Bloc for Democracy against growing signs of bureaucracy in the
party and the state.
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Lenin’s Testament
Towards the end of December 1922, Lenin sufered a second stroke.
Concerned about what might happen after his death, he dictated
his initial thoughts for what he thought would be his last Testament,
outlining the strengths and weaknesses of all the leading communists.
He was particularly worried by Stalin’s attitudes towards the nonRussian nationalities. After 1921, Lenin had come to favour a looser
federation of autonomous states rather than a more centralised unitary
state which Stalin was trying to push through.
Lenin was particularly concerned about Stalin’s use of force against
those in the Soviet republic of Georgia who were against his plans.
These concerns led Lenin to add a Postscript to his Testament in January
1923, recommending Stalin’s removal from all his posts.
SOURCE 2.1
Files on the Georgian Affair were brought out for Lenin to examine. He
had made his mind up about the verdict: Stalin and his associates were
guilty of Great Russian chauvinism even though Stalin, Ordzhonikidze
and Dzierzynski themselves were not Russians. Already at the end
of the previous year, in an article on the national question, Lenin had
acknowledged:
‘I am, it seems, immensely guilty before the workers of Russia for
not intervening suficiently energetically and suficiently sharply in the
notorious question of autonomisation, oficially known, it seems as the
question of the union of soviet socialist republics.’
He also dictated an article on bureaucracy in the organs of party and
government, making strong criticisms of the Workers’ and Peasants’
Inspectorate. It was obvious to informed observers that Stalin, who
headed the Inspectorate, was his principal target... telling his secretaries
to keep everything to themselves and to lock up his papers. This was
how he plotted the downfall of an individual whom he considered the
greatest danger to the Revolution...
Service, R., 2005, Stalin: a Biography,
y London, Pan, p. 210.
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SOURCE 2.2
Since he became General Secretary, Comrade Stalin has concentrated
in his hands immeasurable power, and I am not sure that he will always
know how to use that power with suficient caution. On the other
hand Comrade Trotsky... is distinguished not only by his outstanding
qualities (personally he is the most capable man in the present Central
Committee) but also by his excess of self-conidence and a readiness to
be carried away by the purely administrative side of affairs....
Stalin is too rude, and this fault, entirely supportable in relations
amongst us Communists, becomes insupportable in the ofice of
General Secretary. Therefore, I propose to the comrades to ind a way
of removing Stalin from that position and to appoint another man who in
all respects differs from Stalin only in superiority; namely, more patient,
more loyal, more polite, less capricious, and more attentive to comrades.
Extracts from Lenin’s Testament and Postscript, 25 December 1922 and 4
January 1923. Quoted in Lynch, M., 1990, Stalin and Khrushchev: The
USSR 1924–64,
924–64 London, Hodder & Stoughton, pp. 15–16.
From then, until his death the following year, Lenin urged Trotsky on
several occasions to launch a campaign against bureaucracy, and for the
restoration of party and Soviet democracy.
QUESTION
Why did Lenin write a Postscript to his Testament in January 1923?
By January 1923, the triumvirs’ alliance had been inalised. Soon a
‘whispering campaign’ was underway, concerning Trotsky’s nonBolshevik past, and his earlier disagreements with Lenin. However,
Stalin appeared to be in serious trouble in March 1923 – his rudeness
to Lenin’s wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, had led Lenin to send him a
harsh letter, on 5 March, threatening to ‘break relations’ with him if he
did not retract and apologise. Kamenev was aware of this, and of Lenin’s
intention to politically ‘crush’ Stalin: at this stage, it seemed that Stalin’s
ambitions were doomed to failure. But then Lenin sufered a third
stroke, which left him paralysed and speechless for most of the time
until his death in January 1924.
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Nadezhda Krupskaya (1869–1939):
Often known as ‘Nadya’, she was a revolutionary and writer, and
had married Lenin in 1898. She initially supported Stalin against
Trotsky, but later, for a time, supported Zinoviev and Kamenev
when they began to criticise Stalin. She was involved in education,
acting as a deputy Commissar (minister) for Education in 1918
under Lenin, and again from 1929 to 1939. She also played
a big role in establishing Komsomol (the Young Communist
organisation).
Figure 2.2: According to Boris Bazhanov (1900–83), Stalin’s personal secretary
from 1923 to 1925, Stalin was ‘jubilant’ over Lenin’s death, though in public he
put on a show of grief.
Most historians (such as Robert Service) accept the authenticity of
Lenin’s Testament and Postscript, and his letter of 5 March about Stalin’s
use of foul language against Krupskaya. However, these aspects are
questioned by Hiroaki Kuromiya, who states, in his 2005 biography on
Stalin, that all of these events have been the subject of recent scrutiny.
In particular, he argues that there are ‘too many documentary and
evidential inconsistencies’.
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